DANVILLE — Danville Bowl, initially opened in 1961, will shut its doorways Monday as locals get their final likelihood to say goodbye to the storied lanes.
“It feels like a wake,” stated Joe Sperske, a Livermore resident who first got here to the bowling alley as a youngster within the Nineties. He was bowling along with his nephew, 12-year-old Scout Sperske, and brother, Jason Sperske, one final time. “We’re losing a family member with this place.”
Beloved as a timeless establishment that hosted kids’s birthday events, bowling leagues, late-night drunken antics and numerous recollections, the family-owned enterprise will probably be changed by a but–to-be-disclosed improvement – the property was offered by a belief.
Those that have been coming lengthy sufficient say there’s a sure odor that solely an outdated bowling alley has — a peculiar however adored aroma from one other technology.
The spot flourished when folks nonetheless smoked cigarettes indoors and there was no freeway on the town.
“This is kind of a shock,” Joe Sperske stated. “Part of me feels like if I feel this sad about it closing, why didn’t I do something when it was still around to promote it? I feel partly responsible.”
Gone are the times of 50-cent video games and the period of “The Big Lebowski,” the late 90s movie that “made bowling cool,” Joe stated. He stated being at Danville Bowl is “like walking around in a time capsule.”
“It’s like home. … The place looks exactly the same. Nothing’s changed.” stated Adam Alling, an area businessman who has been haunting the lanes since he was a child. “Being from here, it’s like a piece of us is going away.”
Kelly Carroll, a Walnut Creek resident who grew up in Pleasanton, stated it’s unhappy to see the enterprise go away as a result of it was a “reasonably priced, family-friendly activity” she might deliver her 3-year-old son, Samuel, to get pleasure from.
“I fear that families are getting priced out now,” Carrol stated. “It’s sad. These are places where I have memories and it would have been great for my kids to make memories there too. But I know they’ll make new ones.”
Justin Oertel, whose father, Mike, purchased the enterprise in 1994, stated he knew this present day would come after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated their backside line for 13 months, throughout which period the store remained closed because it was hemorrhaging cash. Oertel’s father presently lives in Idaho, the place he operates one other bowling alley.
“It was tough. We were hit the hardest in this industry,” Oertel stated.
Danville Bowl made headlines because it defied masks mandates to assist cease the unfold of the lethal coronavirus. Oertel stated it was a method to preserve the enterprise afloat through the hardest monetary spell of their household’s 30 years of possession.
“We were just trying to get the business to stay open,” he stated.
Now, Tri-Valley residents have flocked in droves to pay their respects and blast one final ball down the slick wood alley within the dimly lit heart another time. Oertel, born in 1993, reminisced in regards to the first 13 birthdays he spent with household there.
He fondly remembers the years of $2 Taco Tuesdays, the place the home cook dinner, often called Jose, would present up early at hand make salsas and fry crispy, arduous shell floor beef tacos that may usually promote out alongside the opposite hen, pastor and asada tacos out there from his private recipes.
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A wall ornament on the snack bar is seen in Danville Bowl on Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Danville, Calif. The bowling alley is closing store on March 31 after 60 years in enterprise. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
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A wall ornament on the snack bar is seen in Danville Bowl on Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Danville, Calif. The bowling alley is closing store on March 31 after 60 years in enterprise. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
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Oertel discovered all the roles in the home, from porter to mechanic, cashier to cook dinner, and all the pieces in between. He stated his favourite job was all the time bartending, the place he’d get to be extra “hands-on” with the handfuls of regulars he spent his life attending to know, usually seven days every week.
A number of of his regulars he’s seen get married, begin households over time and return with kids of their very own to bowl and snicker and make recollections. Different, older patrons he’s seen die off, by no means to return for the beer he’s left for them on the bartop out of respect.
Oertel’s subsequent endeavor, he stated, will probably be making an attempt his hand at regulation enforcement. Most of his mates are cops or sheriffs, he stated, and now he needs to affix the ranks himself.
“We do love the industry. It’s a lot of good people involved,” Oertel stated.
When requested if he’d take into account opening one other bowling alley someplace down the road, he stated “nothing’s out of the question. You never know where you’re going to be in 10 or 15 years.”
Danville Mayor Renee Morgan stated in an interview Friday she doesn’t know what is going to change into of the land beneath the bowling alley, however she remembers birthday events and neighborhood gatherings there identical to everybody else. She famous the spot has been zoned for housing — one thing the world is in brief provide of. However she stated she hopes no matter occurs, she needs Danville to maintain its small city allure that the alley dropped at 200 Boone Court docket.
“Danville Bowl has been a fixture in Danville for over 60 years. It’s a place where a lot of memories have been made and friendships have been forged,” Morgan stated. “I’d like to keep (Danville) exactly how I want to envision it, which is that small town atmosphere with that high quality of life. Danville is a unique gem and I’d definitely like to keep it that way.”
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